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I just submitted my application to the AAF Most Promising Multicultural Student program for 2017, and man was that difficult for me! One of the portions of the application was entirely too significant for a 300 word entry. Why is diversity important in advertising? I really felt challenged to articulate my feelings, but after a lot of cliches, bad metaphors, and well-written bullsh*t, I finally found a way to say how I really felt. I’m sure in 5 minutes, 5 days, or 5 years, I’ll have something entirely different to say. I wanted to capture it today so I have something to look back on.

Why is diversity important in advertising?

Advertising is no longer about identifying features and highlighting benefits. Consumers are reaching for brands that fit into their everyday lives. Our goal as advertisers is to help the audience visualize our brand fitting seamlessly into their homes, families, and lifestyles.

To show our brands integrated into the target’s lifestyle, our message has to be as authentic as possible. We have to prove that we understand how different and unique their consumer’s lives are. That means taking the risk and incorporating diverse characters, problems, and story lines when we share our brand story. Multicultural thought leaders see life through a different lens and can draw their unique backgrounds, cultures, and knowledge. If we can see the problem or the consumer lifestyle through their eyes, we can become better storytellers for our brand. .

Companies shy away from diversity in their advertising because they consider it risky. In a time where everyone is offended by everything, no one wants to be the controversial brand. I think that’s what makes advertising unique from sources like news and media outlets.

In our industry, diversity is more natural, familiar, is flexible to meet the consumer demand for authenticity. In the news and media however, the only conversations being had about diversity are alarming, painful, high intensity, and very hard to swallow. Instead of authentic, it is controversial. Diversity shouldn’t be controversial. It’s an integral part of our everyday lives, interpersonal relationships, and decisions.

Shying away from diversity creates a barrier between brands, minority audiences, and every other consumer whose lives are rich with diversity. With a brand story exclusive of no one, our companies are one step closer to seamlessly fitting into their audience’s life. Companies that embrace this fact replace audience barriers with consumer relationships.

No matter what focus you choose to pursue, I urge you to develop skills across the different pathways. The best copywriters have to understand the basics of strategy. The best art directors and designers have to have a respect for the account management process. Media planners and buyers need to be familiar with the the brand’s PR efforts. Even a social media savant should be in tune with the research backing the campaign. Advertising is like a foreign language with many dialects. Anything you can do to be fluent will propel you forward in your career.

With that said, I wanted to share some Planning (also known as Strategy) terminology taught by the one and only Ron Taylor (Remember the 6 Segment Strategy Wheel?) These 15 terms just might save your life in all the coursework to come. And of course, your careers as well!

Creative strategy articulation – developing message strategy based on research

Tactic – A tool used to achieve strategy, based on previously made objectives

Auto-driving – Interview extension, added at the end of an interview to drive discussion further.

Interview guides – 3-5 main topics that keep you on track during the interview.

Emic – Participant language (insider terms)

Etic – Researcher language

Grounded Theory – forming of theory AFTER reviewing data

Insight – Patters/Ideas gleaned from observation and behavior

Account Planning – Also known as strategy, began in England in the 1950’s to ensure the consumer perspective is considered in the qualitative data

What activity matters most in planning? – LISTENING!

Total Greek to you? That’s ok! Just bookmark this and remember me when you take Dr. Ronald Taylor’s Account Planning class. If you don’t get the privilege to being his student, you can still hone in on the concepts he urges us to remember as we pursue our ad careers. If you have any questions, please reach out to me! I’ll help explain the best I can (or refer you to the professors who are way smarter than I am!)

I don’t know if Winston Churchill, Confucious, or Abraham Lincoln said it – but they never worked in advertising. It’s an encouraging notion , but I’m sorry to say, it’s a load of bologna. I’ve loved writing since the day I could hold a crayon. I’ve written poems, songs, research papers, complex proposals, blogs, brochures, TV scripts, and radi
o spots. I adore writing – I don’t care what.

All that said, I have worked damn hard to get where I am.

I’ve worked every day in intense coursework, agency internships, volunteer positions, and even trivial part-time jobs to pay for the textbooks I work hard to read. The moment I realized I wanted to become an advertiser, that was just the beginning. I am going to work hard every day until I retire from this industry.

That’s just how this industry works. It doesn’t matter how skilled you are or how much you love your field. Advertising is run by pistols, hustlers, go-getters, and fireballs. And it doesn’t just stop with working hard – you have to work harder than the agency beside you competing for your client’s time and attention. And the moment you let up, you fall behind.

Here’s the good news:

The harder you work, the easier it becomes. Your best work is always one step ahead of you, instead of miles. You stay on the brink of your most incredible achievement – you reach it. You celebrate. And you push forward towards bigger and better things.

I’m going to have a lot of praises to sing when I finally get that phone call.

Many of you may know that I’ve invested months of time and tears into pursuing internships this upcoming summer. I’ve learned things about myself that I never realized- how ambitious, persistent, doubtful, and impatient I can be. I’ve found support in places I never expected and watched some cracks form in relationships I never expected. Every day, something new is revealed to me.

All I need now is an opportunity revealed to me, then maybe I can calm down.

I have to admit, I’ve been eating, sleeping, and breathing Advertising. Every night I pray for God to grant me peace and patience, then every morning I get up and hustle to make it happen. I’m watching the pieces fall into place, but I really need to step back and let God do His thing. In the meantime, I just plan on thanking Him every chance I get, for my drive, for my support system, for my opportunities so far. Maybe, He’ll stand a little closer to me if the news isn’t what I’d expected.

This is Easter weekend, and instead of spending the whole weekend on LinkedIn, updating my portfolio, and sweating over an empty inbox, I’m going to try to relax. My Dad reminded me that no matter what happens, it happened the way God had planned. I need to fuel my faith first, and let Him do what He does best. He will take care of me, even when it’s dark and bleak. Even when it seems hopeless – God is full of surprises. Like resurrecting Jesus and such.

“BE a fountain, not a drain. It’s a choice! A choice to: BE positive not negative. BE a giver not a taker. BE a creator not a destroyer. BE hopeful not hopeless. BE love not hate. BE grateful not thankless. BE selfless not selfish. BE a light not a shadow. BE a beginning not an ending.

If you know a single thing about me, you know that Polar Bears are my favorite animal. I don’t know what it is about them, so I thought I would do some digging. Here’s what I found fromhttp://www.spirit-animals.com/polar-bear/.

If the Polar Bear has come to hold significant meaning for you…

The Polar Bear is reminding you how enormously strong and full of courage you are. He has come to help you stand up to your current challenges in life, no matter how intimidating they are. You will never be overwhelmed. Polar Bear also reminds you that you can thrive in environments that may be hostile to others.

You know how to use your own power. You are fierce and strong yet playful at the same time. You know how to pursue what you want deliberately and powerfully. You are not afraid to show aggressive behavior – however you use it for defensive purposes only rather than bullying your way through things. You are a good provider and you enjoy the responsibility of providing for others.

If Polar Bear has come into your Dream…

When Polar bear comes to you in a dream it signifies a reawakening within you. This aspect of yourself will defy adversity and reflect a fearlessness of never giving in to your problems. Alternatively Polar Bear may also reflect a person in your life that you can depend on to do the right thing. You have the ability to compromise nothing to negativity. Polar Bears in dreams are considered good omens.

Polar Bears in dreams often signify an improvement in your circumstances.

We know the news had a hidden agenda. We know conspiracy theories get mixed into the media. There are credible threats and non-credible threats and it’s hard to tell the difference. We know there are major changes in place for our country and that is scary.

We feel like we have to look over our shoulder constantly. Sometimes it feels like neighbor vs. neighbor with this war on racism, terrorism, violence, equality, international matters… who can you trust? We turn to prayer and news, news then prayer, prayer, rumor, fear. We want to validate this using that, explain that using this. Coincidence or God? There’ so much room for fear and speculation.

Someone close to me recently opened the door to this fear and doubt. In their mind, the End is coming. In fact, “God actually told him” and every scary news report is just confirmation. For the first time, I looked up the types of “prophecies being fulfilled” that he and millions of others have bought into. It’s scary stuff – I don’t believe it, but it is truly scary.

Here’s what I learned though. I can’t be Afraid. I can’t. We just can’t. We don’t have time to be consumed with what might happen next weekend. Why that happened last month. What could happen at the end of the year. Do Not Be Afraid. I’m not here to debunk the number of times it’s actually written in the Bible, but I know it’s implied with every word. And if Jesus said it once, that’s good enough for me. I can’t fear ISIS. I can’t fear being this race or that (or both in my case). I can’t fear a flag. I can’t fear the repercussions of two people in love.

There’s so much better ways I could spend this day God provided me. Here’s the things I feel God wants me to ask myself at the end of the day.

1. Did I choose Faith over fear today?

2. God gave me a heart Bursting with love and joy. Did I withhold it from anyone?

3. Did I allow preparedness to become panic?

4. In speaking with someone who disagrees with my opinion, was I kind or unkind?

5. Did I speak as though I knew God’s plan (when I know it exceeds anything I can imagine?)

6. Am I trying to validate something scary to pretend I have control, or did I remember God has the control?

7. Knowing it’s hard to let go, Did I redirect my natural desire for control in a positive way or a negative way?

8. Did I talk with God about my concerns?

These are not questions I ask, but they are questions I need to start asking. I feel myself slipping into a state of Why’s and What If’s, and I see others around me going there too. God doesn’t want us to be afraid, but that doesn’t mean he wants us making assumptions about his plan either. The only fear I want to have is Did I relish in this day God made with all the joy, love, and faith in my heart? Yes or No?

My heart is boiling over for you. Not with anger, but with an overflowing love and concern. The morning after a man opened fire in my own church, I woke up with this nightmare replaying over and over in my head. It was like reality was drained right out of life and this alternate universe had taken over.

I can’t imagine knowing the doors swung open and the car drove off.
That makes my heart hurt so deeply – not having that sense of “it’s over now”.

Charleston. Where there is fear, there is twice as much love. You wait, in the coming days, you will see an outpouring like you’ve never imagined. It can’t return to you what was lost – all it can do is wrap tightly around you and hold you close. But you will be safe, warm, and loved, and you can heal.

God’s plan will completely astound you. Sometimes you want to turn away. Sometimes you want to plead for answers. Why Why Why. But if you save some room in your heart for faith, even when it seems consumed with fear, your walk with God will take you farther than you dreamed.

I adore nothing more than when my friends share a growth moment. This particularly inspiring blurb came in the form of a 4am Facebook Status that showed up on my wall this morning.

“This is just a little something that’s on my heart. If there’s anything being a young adult has taught me so far, it’s that it is the worst feeling to feel lonely, lost, confused, and like you’re the only one who doesn’t have their stuff together when it seems like everyone else your age does (when in reality their just trying to figure out life just as you are). I’ve come to realize it’s okay not to know exactly who I am yet. Life is about figuring out who you are and for some people it happens faster than others. Life is a short, but beautiful journey when you decide to stop letting all the bad parts drag you down. Happiness is everything and at the end of the day it’s up to you to decide to do what makes YOU happy and be with who makes you happy. Otherwise, you’re just letting people in society tell you how they think you should be regardless of whether or not it makes you happy. Screw what everyone thinks and be who you are. Love who you are whoever you may be…”

Obviously, It blew up with love and support from myself included. I proceeded to congratulate hashtagging #Goals which she responded with the single most honest comment ever.

All it takes is hard work, gurlfrand… discipline is the hardest part. Always thinking bout dat healthy body but also dat pizza…. I think about pizza everyday, not lying..

The today she posted this:

After my post yesterday, some people have told me I should turn my Instagram into a health/fitness related page… Y’all, I love you but I am not even going to pretend that I am all about either of those things. As you saw I went on a cruise, I ate pizza every single day, and not in small quantities-we’re talking 4-5 pieces a day. Also, I can count on my two hands how many times I’ve hit pause on Netflix in a month. I will gladly tell anyone who asks how I lost my weight, but this girl will not be making a health page. Maybe something more important, like a pizza page.

Honestly, this was so refreshing for me. I am that person that dives head first into every idea, obsesses over it, and is devastated when I realize it just wasn’t meant to be. Personally, I think Kass would be an incredible heath inspiration. But first of all, she was honest. I need to be more like that.

I don’t need to become a Youtube Star. I don’t need to open an Etsy shop. I don’t need to become a Yogi. I just need to be myself. I just need to take my ambitions day by day and celebrate the little victories.

She also said:

I don’t want people thinking because I lost weight that I’m all healthy now and believe only certain things should be eaten and what-not. Honey, I was raised in the south. You don’t eat healthy here. I also, don’t want people thinking because of how I look, that’s the way I believe everyone should look. That was my biggest fear going into this, posting how I looked in fear of indirectly or accidentally criticizing someone else.

Someone remind me to be this honest and grounded. And Real. Kass, Thank you for reminding me not to take life too seriously.